A bomb exploded next to an underground train station in the Chilean capital of Santiago this afternoon, wounding at least 10 people, and the government said it bore the signs of «a terrorist» act.
The blast occurred at lunchtime in a fast-food restaurant in a small shopping and eating area next to the Escuela Militar metro station in the affluent residential and shopping neighborhood of Las Condes.
«This is a cowardly act because it has as its objective to hurt people, create fear and even kill innocent people,» President Michelle Bachelet said.
«We’re going to use all the weight of the law, including the anti-terrorist law, because those responsible for these acts have to pay,» she said.
Anti-terrorism laws give prosecutors more powers and allow for harsher sentencing.
Bachelet asked for residents to remain calm, saying, «This is horrible, tremendously reprehensible, but Chile is and remains a safe country.»
«This is an act that has all the hallmarks of a terrorist action,» said Alvaro Elizalde, a cabinet minister and government spokesman, in the aftermath of the attack.
«There is no doubt. And it has been carried out with the intention of hurting innocent people.»
The government will invoke anti-terrorism laws, added Elizalde. The laws give prosecutors more powers and allow for harsher sentencing.
Interior Minister Mahmud Aleuy said police believed two suspects who planted the device escaped in a car.
No group has yet to claim responsibility.
«I was having lunch, I felt the noise and we went out to see and we saw a lot of smoke, people running and shouting,» said Joanna Magneti, who works in the shopping center.
«A young man was badly wounded, a lady had her hand wounded,» she said.
This week Chile commemorates the 41st anniversary of the 1973 military coup that removed socialist President Salvador Allende from power. The events of the coup still deeply divide Chilean society, and the anniversary is traditionally a time of protests that often turn violent.
A number of explosive devices have been planted close to banks and police stations in Chile in recent years.
In the past, one member of an anarchist group has been killed and another injured trying to set off explosive devices, but no bystanders have been hurt.
In July, an incendiary device exploded on an underground train without causing injuries.
The metro was operating normally after the explosion although the Escuela Militar station was closed, police said.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald